Site web: http://www.longwood.edu/staff/edwardswa/courses.htm

Required Texts
*  Mariama Bâ.  Une si longue lettre.  Paris: Le Serpent à plumes, 2001.
*  Antoine de Saint Exupéry.  Le petit prince.   Paris: Gaillmard, 1999.
*  Various authors.  Poètes français des XIXe et XXe siècles.  Paris: Livre de poche, 1987.
*  Photocopies containing supplemental readings will also be distributed. 
*  Certain readings, indicated on the syllabus, are available on-line.  Students should access the passages, 
    print them, and bring them to the appropriate class meeting.  These texts are also available in the Longwood library.
*  All students at this level should also own a substantial, hardback French-English dictionary. 

Course Description
An introductory survey of literature in French.  Students will study representative texts written in the 19th and 20th centuries in order to highlight the principal literary, historical, and cultural currents of the period. This is a course conducted entirely in French.  For a list of useful classroom expressions, click here.

Course Objectives
1.  At the beginning of the semester students will learn a literary vocabulary which will allow them to discuss in a reflective and sophicated way particularly major writings of the period.  Students will review the elements of French versification and investigate the contemporary philosophies and movements that influenced the poets and novelists of the period.

2.  Students will also study the art of explication de texte, a particularly French method for analyzing short literary passages.  To analyze a text is to look for connections in its different elements--its sounds, words, images, characters, functions, and underlying assumptions.  These connections ultimately lead to the text's structure, philosophy, and, we may presume, its potential meaning.

3.  Students will learn to read modern French texts of varying complexity, clarity, and form.

4.  Students will learn to write professional and precise essays that critique the texts at hand.

5.  Students will practice speaking about French literature to others who are familar with the texts under consideration.  Twice during the semester, students will present a poem to the class, explain its interests and artistry, and open a discussion about its significance.

6.  Finally, the course will serve tangetially as an introduction to French cultural and political history of the 19th and 20th centuries.

 Course Requirements
1. Attendance, preparation, and participation. Attendance and participation are mandatory and will account for 15% of the student’s final grade.  For purposes of notation, “participation” is defined as physical attendance, obvious preparation, active contribution to in-class discussions, and willingness to speak French.  Students who speak English will be penalized.  As stated in the student handbook, “Students are expected to attend all classes.  Failure to attend class regularly impairs academic performance.  [Moreover,] absences are disruptive to the educational process for others.  This is especially true when absences cause interruption for clarification of material previously covered, failure to assume assigned responsibilities for class presentations, or failure to adjust to changes in assigned material or due dates.”  If the student misses 10% of the scheduled class meetings for unexcused absences, the instructor reserves the right to lower that student’s course grade by no more than one letter grade.  The instructor also reserves the right to assign a course grade of “F” when a student has missed a total (excused and unexcused) of 25% of the scheduled class meetings.  Absences will be excused only for the following reasons: illness, participation in a university-sponsored activity, religious holiday, or recognizable emergency.  Absences will not be excused for court dates, transportation scheduling, or doctor’s appointments.  

2.  Reading quizzes.  It is critical that students prepare each reading thoroughly for class discussion.  Reatings will inevitably contain several unfamiliar words.  Particularly when reading poetry, students should look up every unfamiliar word.  To reward and encourage close readings, students will take a 10-minute quiz every Tuesday based on that day's assignment.  The quizzes may vary depending the assigned reading, but will generally test the student's vocabulary (for poetry) or reading comprehension (for prose).  Missed quizzes may not be made up.  The lowest quiz score will be dropped at the end of the semester.

3.  Exposés.  Twice during the semester, students will be responsible for opening class discussion on the day's reading.  In teams of two, students should present an assigned poem to the class by reading it aloud, discussing its interesting parts and its versification, situating it within its literary movement, and opening a debate about its meaning.  Exposés should last at least 12-15 minutes.  Students will be assigned a poem well in advance and graded according to specific guidelines.  Exposés must be delivered on the day assigned, and may serve, at the student's discretion, as a springboard for the writing assignments.

4.  Essays.  Students will write two papers.  The first is an explication de texte (3 pages), based on an assigned poem.  The second is a dissertation analytique (5 pages) in which students will have more freedom to explore topics and texts of personal interest.  Students will submit drafts of each assignment two weeks before the final project is due.  Late papers will be penalized.

5.  Final exam.  The final exam will follow an essay format, and will provide students the opportunity to connect various readings with the theme of the course: "L'amour, la langue, et l'ailleurs."

6.  Honor code.  Students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the Longwood University Honor Code.  All work submitted for the class must be pledged.

Grading.  The student’s course grade will be determined by the following percentages:

Programme du cours